December 2016

revere Comfort Shoes: Functional footwear that doesn’t skimp on style

By Shalmali Pal

One of Australia’s favorite sayings is “no worries,” meaning that something is hassle-free or simply not a problem. “No worries” is an apt description for revere Comfort Shoes: lower extremity practitioners don’t have TO worry about wrangling a necessary orthosis into a shoe that cannot accommodate it; retailers don’t have to be concerned about taking a chance on a new footwear line; and, perhaps most important of all, patients don’t have to fret about giving up style for the sake of their foot health, thereby increasing the chances that they will actually wear the prescribed footwear.

This is because when it comes to designing their line of sandals, closed-toe shoes, and boots, refere Comfort Shoes first looks at fashion, then focuses on how to make it functional for optimal foot health.

“Style is where we start,” said Craig Truscott, revere Comfort Shoes co-founder and CEO. “Our objective is to create stylish footwear that has functionality, rather than building functional shoes, and then trying to give them some style. We challenge our product development team to look at what’s really happening in current fashions in terms of trends, colors, etc. Then we determine if we can incorporate the DNA of revere Comfort Shoes into that.”

“We saw a gap in the market in terms of stylish comfort footwear that had the function that foot health professionals are looking for…”

–Cofounder/CEO Craig Truscott

revere Comfort Shoes was founded in Australia and New Zealand, and introduced its line in the U.S. in 2016. They have a domestic base in Santa Monica, CA.

When Truscott, his wife Annie, and business partner Jeffrey Coombridge started out in 2008, they had an eye to fill the gap they saw in the comfort shoe market. The result was revere Comfort Shoes, a line that carries sandals, slip-ons, lace-ups, and ankle boots (booties) for women, and sandals for men.

“We saw a gap in the market in terms of stylish comfort footwear that had the function that foot health professionals are looking for, such as adjustable uppers and the ability to use their own orthotics,”

Craig explained. “Consumers, and women in particular, have much higher expectations in terms of what they’re looking for in this category of shoes. At the same time, we had to balance that with the needs of the foot health experts to create a safe environment with the shoes.”

The PFS includes either a comfort foam or PU footbed that is removable for those who require a separate orthotic device. Also, revere Comfort Shoes shoes’ extra depth unit allows for a variety of custom orthotics to be inserted without taking away from the style of the shoes.

But the biggest hit with customers is the matching strap extensions, which bring an additional 15 mm of width to the sandals and are included with every pair.

“The strap extensions allow foot health specialists to ensure the best fit, particularly for those with difficult-to-fit feet. For shoe distributors, the extensions mean not having to carry multiple widths because the straps serve that purpose, Craig pointed out.

For the closed-toe shoes and boots, the focus is on the design of the uppers to enhance the wearer’s experience, and give practitioners flexibility to manipulate the shoe. For instance, the slip-on “Charlotte” features a padded mesh upper for breathability while the lace-up “Seattle,” has a full-grain leather upper that gives it some malleability.

Annie pointed out that the “Toronto Twin Zip” bootie is designed with medial and lateral zippers so the shoe can be easily donned and doffed, while inserts or orthoses can easily be taken in and out.

“In the footbeds of our closed shoes, we have an additional shim, so that if someone is looking to take up a little volume in the shoe, they can modify the footbed to fit into the shoe,” Craig added.

Now that revere Comfort Shoes has officially launched in the U.S., they are ready to help practitioners and retailers introduce the line to their patients and customers with two business models.

“For the smaller office that doesn’t have a lot of room, we provide a table top, in-clinic display for $199. It includes nine of our best selling sandals from sizes 6-11. That can be used as the fitting kit,” Craig said. “Shoes can be ordered from the company warehouse in Boise, ID (shipping takes 3-4 business days) without a minimum order requirement, and shoes can also be returned to revere Comfort Shoes without penalty,” he added.

“This model has worked very well because it gives small offices the ability to dispense footwear with minimal outlay, but very good cash-flow opportunities,” he said.

For bigger retail outlets, revere Comfort Shoes offers an open-stock model, and carries its stock all year round. “So they can order as they see fit from our open-stock model,” he explained. “In independent retailing, there’s an emphasis now on minimizing expenses, and maximizing cash flow and stock turn. This is a model that gives these retailers the ability to do that with a great range of products.”